The Australian Taxation Office is warning businesses that use contractors in industries such as building, cleaning, IT and security to lodge overdue Taxable Payments Annual Reports (TPARs) immediately, or face penalties.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has reminded businesses of the requirement to lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) to avoid potential penalties on 9 March 2026.
Businesses and government entities who make payments to contractors may need to report these payments and lodge a TPAR. Contractors can include subcontractors, consultants and independent contractors. They can operate as sole traders (individuals), companies, partnerships or trusts.
Services covered under the Taxable Payments Reporting System (TPRS) include building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, information technology (IT), and security, investigation, or surveillance.
Businesses that provide these services and engage contractors to perform them may also be required to lodge a TPAR.
This is the last chance to lodge overdue TPARs before penalties apply. Failure to lodge penalties will be applied to those clients who:
- have been issued three non-lodgment letters about their overdue TPAR
- haven’t lodged their TPAR from 2025 or previous years.
In 2025, just over AUD 5 million in penalties were issued.
The Reported Transactions service in Online services for agents can be used to view records of payments clients have made to contractors.
If a client doesn’t need to lodge a TPAR, a non-lodgment advice (NLA) form still needs to be submitted. If they no longer pay contractors, this form can be used to indicate they won’t need to lodge a TPAR in future years.
A non-lodgment advice form allows you to notify multiple years on the same form, advise when lodgment is not required in the future, and provide a reason for not lodging. It validates the entered information, provides a reference number for confirmation, and appears in the lodgment history tab.
TPARs and NLA forms are due by 28 August each year.
